Leafy greens are a good choice for an indoor garden. They require less light than fruiting vegetables, such as tomatoes. / File photo by Carucha L. Meuse/The Journal News

With the right grow lights, many vegetables and herbs can be grown indoors. / File TJN

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Q: I am thinking about growing vegetables in my house. What does this involve, and what equipment will I need?

A: An indoor garden may be a viable way to supplement a healthy supply of pesticide-free vegetables.

An insulated basement is an excellent location for an indoor garden because the temperature is easy to keep constant year round.

It is important to design and lay out your garden before you begin to raise plants. You will need containers, fertilizer, lights and clean potting soil if using a soil-based system. Fans for air circulation are a good idea.

Your garden may be either soil-based or hydroponic. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants using a special solution to provide all the required nutrients. Instead of using soil, the plant is grown in water or is anchored in an inert medium such as vermiculite or rock wool.

You can build your own system with PVC pipe, a pump and lights. Plans for a simple hydroponic system and information on growing vegetables in containers may be found at http://www.gardening.cornell.edu or obtained from your local Cooperative Extension.

Many vegetables require full sun outdoors, but may be grown inside if they receive sufficient light. Leafy greens, salad and root crops require less light than fruiting vegetables, such as tomatoes.

High Intensity Discharge lamps (available in wattage from 150 to more than 1,000) and light-emitting diodes have made indoor gardening practical, because these deliver a sufficient amount of light for healthy growth. These fixtures will be your biggest expense.

Less effective than HID or LED lights, but also less costly, is a mixture of cool and warm fluorescent shop lights. These must be placed close to the tops of the plants and adjusted as the crops grow.